Marketing Mix

Promotion

Modern marketing calls for more than developing a good product, pricing it attractively, and
making it accessible. Companies must also communicate with present and potential stakeholders
as well as the general public. For most companies, the question is not whether to communicate
but rather what to say, to whom, and how often.

Common communication platform

The marketing communications mix consists of advertising, Events and experiences, sales
promotion, public relations and publicity, personal selling, and direct and interactive marketing
and word of mouth marketing, although marketers know that communication goes beyond these
methods.

Communication model

Macro Model of the communication process - This contains nine elements, two represent
major parties in the communication—sender and receiver. Two represent the the major
communication tools—message and media. Four represent major communication functions–
encoding and decoding, response and feedback. The last element in the process is noise.
DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

Step 1: Identifying the Target Audience

The first step is to identify a clear target audience: potential buyers of the company’s products,
current users, deciders, or influencers; individuals, groups, particular publics, or the general
public.

Further analysis helps the company assess the audience’s current image of the company, its
products, and its competitors. (Image is the set of beliefs, ideas, and impressions that a person
holds regarding an object)

Step 2: Determining the Communication Objectives

Step 3 – Design the communication

Formulating the communications to achieve the desired response will require solving three
problems. What to say ( message strategy), how to say it (creative strategy) and who should say
it ( message source)

Message strategy - Ideally, the message should gain attention, hold interest, arouse desire,
and elicit action. but the

AIDA framework suggests the desirable qualities of any communication. Formulating the
message will require solving four problems: what to say (message content), how to say it
logically (message structure), how to say it symbolically (message format), and who should say
it (message source).

Step 4: Selecting Communication Channels

Now that the message has been designed, the communicator must select efficient communication
channels to carry it.

Personal Communication Channels

Personal communication channels involve two or more persons communicating directly with
each other face to face, person to audience, over the telephone, or through e-mail. These
channels derive their effectiveness through the opportunities for individualizing the presentation
and feedback.

Nonpersonal Communication Channels

Nonpersonal channels include media, sales promotion, and events and experience and public
relations. Media consist of print media (newspapers, magazines, direct mail), broadcast media
(radio, television), electronic media (audiotape, videotape, CD-ROM, DVD, Web page), and
display media (billboards, signs, posters). Most nonpersonal messages come through paid media.
Events are occurrences designed to communicate particular messages to target
audiences.

Direct Mail
Direct mail is very highly focused upon targeting consumers based upon a database. As with all
marketing, the potential consumer is 'defined' based upon a series of attributes and similarities.
Creative agencies work with marketers to design a highly focused communication in the form of
a mailing. The mail is sent out to the potential consumers and responses are carefully monitored.
For example, if you are marketing medical text books, you would use a database of doctors'
surgeries as the basis of your mail shot.

Trade Fairs and Exhibitions.

Such approaches are very good for making new contacts and renewing old ones. Companies will
seldom sell much at such events. The purpose is to increase awareness and to encourage trial.
They offer the opportunity for companies to meet with both the trade and the consumer. Expo
has recently finish in Germany with the next one planned for Japan in 2005, despite a recent
decline in interest in such events.

Sponsorship.
Sponsorship is where an organization pays to be associated with a particular event, cause or
image. Companies will sponsor sports events such as the Olympics or Formula One. The
attributes of the event are then associated with the sponsoring organization.

Factors in Setting the Marketing Communications Mix

Companies must consider several factors in developing their promotion mix:

 Type of product market. As Figure 5-6 shows, promotional allocations vary between
consumer and business markets.

 Push-versus-pull strategy. A push strategy involves the manufacturer using sales force and
trade promotion to induce intermediaries to carry, promote, and sell the product to end users.
This is especially appropriate where there is low brand loyalty in a category; brand choice is
made in the store; the product is an impulse item; and product benefits are well understood.

A pull strategy involves the manufacturer using advertising and consumer promotion to
induce consumers to ask intermediaries for the product, thus inducing the intermediaries
to order it.

 Buyer-readiness stage. Promotional tools vary in cost effectiveness at different stages of

buyer readiness,
 Product-life cycle stage. Promotional tools also vary in cost effectiveness at different stages
of the product life cycle.

 Company market rank. Market leaders derive more benefit from advertising than from sales
promotion
Step 7: Measuring Results

After implementing the promotional plan, the communicator must measure its impact. Members
of the target audience are asked whether they recognize or recall the message, how many times
they saw it, what points they recall, how they felt about the message, and their previous and
current attitudes toward the product and company.

Eg -Suppose that 80 percent of the targeted customers are aware of the brand, 60 percent have
tried it, and only 20 percent who have tried it are satisfied. This indicates that the
communications program is effective in creating awareness, but the product fails to meet
consumer expectations. However, if 40 percent of the targeted customers are aware of the brand
and only 30 percent have tried it but 80 percent of those who have tried it are satisfied the
communications program needs to be strengthened to take advantage of the brand’s power.

Step 8: Managing the Integrated Marketing Communications Process

To do this most effectively, companies must embrace integrated marketing communications. As

defined by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, integrated marketing
communications (IMC) is a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the
added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of
communications disciplines—for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion
and public relations—and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and
maximum communications’ impact through the seamless integration of discrete messages.

Step 5: Establishing the Marketing Communications Budget

Affordable method. Many companies set the promotion budget at what management thinks the
firm can afford.

Percentage-of-sales method. Many firms set promotion expenditures at a specified percentage of

sales (either current or anticipated) or of the sales price.

Competitive-parity method. Some companies set their promotion budget to achieve share-of-
voice parity with competitors.

Objective-and-task method. Here, marketers develop promotion budgets by defining specific

objectives, determining the tasks that must be performed to achieve these objectives, and
estimating the costs of performing these tasks

Step 6: Developing and Managing the Marketing Communications Mix

Advertising
Advertising is a 'paid form' communication. It is used to develop attitudes, create awareness, and
transmit information in order to gain a response from the target market. There are many
advertising 'media' such as newspapers (local, national, free, trade), magazines and journals,
television (local, national, terrestrial, satellite) cinema, outdoor advertising (such as posters, bus
sides).

Personal Selling.
Personal Selling is an effective way to manage personal customer relationships. The sales person
acts on behalf of the organization. They tend to be well trained in the approaches and techniques
of personal selling. However sales people are very expensive and should only be used where
there is a genuine return on investment. For example salesmen are often used to sell cars or home
improvements where the margin is high

Sales Promotion.
Sales promotion tend to be thought of as being all promotions apart from advertising, personal
selling, and public relations. For example the BOGOF promotion, or Buy One Get One Free.
Others include couponing, money-off promotions, competitions, free accessories (such as free
blades with a new razor), introductory offers (such as buy digital TV and get free installation),
and so on.

Public Relations (PR)

Public Relations is defined as 'the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and
maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics' (Institute of Public
Relations). It is relatively cheap, but certainly not cheap. Successful strategies tend to be long-
term and plan for all eventualities.
Direct Mail
Direct mail is very highly focused upon targeting consumers based upon a database. As with all
marketing, the potential consumer is 'defined' based upon a series of attributes and similarities.
Creative agencies work with marketers to design a highly focused communication in the form of
a mailing. The mail is sent out to the potential consumers and responses are carefully monitored.
For example, if you are marketing medical text books, you would use a database of doctors'
surgeries as the basis of your mail shot.

Trade Fairs and Exhibitions.

Such approaches are very good for making new contacts and renewing old ones. Companies will
seldom sell much at such events. The purpose is to increase awareness and to encourage trial.
They offer the opportunity for companies to meet with both the trade and the consumer. Expo
has recently finish in Germany with the next one planned for Japan in 2005, despite a recent
decline in interest in such events.
Sponsorship.
Sponsorship is where an organization pays to be associated with a particular event, cause or
image. Companies will sponsor sports events such as the Olympics or Formula One. The
attributes of the event are then associated with the sponsoring organization.

Factors in Setting the Marketing Communications Mix

Companies must consider several factors in developing their promotion mix:

Type of product market. As Figure 5-6 shows, promotional allocations vary between consumer
and business markets.

Push-versus-pull strategy. A push strategy involves the manufacturer using sales force and trade
promotion to induce intermediaries to carry, promote, and sell the product to end users. This
is especially appropriate where there is low brand loyalty in a category; brand choice is made
in the store; the product is an impulse item; and product benefits are well understood.

A pull strategy involves the manufacturer using advertising and consumer promotion to
induce consumers to ask intermediaries for the product, thus inducing the intermediaries
to order it.

Buyer-readiness stage. Promotional tools vary in cost effectiveness at different stages of

buyer readiness,

Product-life cycle stage. Promotional tools also vary in cost effectiveness at different stages of
the product life cycle.

Company market rank. Market leaders derive more benefit from advertising than from sales
promotion

Step 7: Measuring Results

After implementing the promotional plan, the communicator must measure its impact. Members
of the target audience are asked whether they recognize or recall the message, how many times
they saw it, what points they recall, how they felt about the message, and their previous and
current attitudes toward the product and company.

Eg -Suppose that 80 percent of the targeted customers are aware of the brand, 60 percent have
tried it, and only 20 percent who have tried it are satisfied. This indicates that the
communications program is effective in creating awareness, but the product fails to meet
consumer expectations. However, if 40 percent of the targeted customers are aware of the brand
and only 30 percent have tried it but 80 percent of those who have tried it are satisfied the
communications program needs to be strengthened to take advantage of the brand’s power.

Step 8: Managing the Integrated Marketing Communications Process

To do this most effectively, companies must embrace integrated marketing communications. As
defined by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, integrated marketing
communications (IMC) is a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the
added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of
communications disciplines—for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion
and public relations—and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and
maximum communications’ impact through the seamless integration of discrete messages.

For more marketing notes -

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